


Namimori Gods

by renysen



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossdressing, F/M, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mob Mentality, Oblivious Sawada Tsunayoshi, Pre-Relationship, Social Injustice, This ain't a romance ITS A GODDAMN ARMSRACE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2018-12-01 04:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11478357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renysen/pseuds/renysen
Summary: Namimori is the home of two divine entities: the Goddess of Luck and the God of Order. Every four generations, they reincarnate in a member of the Hibari Family and a random Namimori child. The search for the goddess has begun, will Tsuna be able to find Hibari’s new wife?





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

_A long time ago, in a hamlet far from Tokyo, two gods descended from the high mountains. The people in this hamlet received them as well as they could but were too poor to do more than give them a meal and a place to spend the night. The gods were pleased by their efforts and blessed their land. Their crops became plentiful and their cattle healthy. The gods, being newlyweds and in search of their marital bode, decided to settle in this area along with the villagers._

_Lots of years passed and the two gods never aged. The Goddess of Luck, known as OuSora, helped care for the children, ill and elderly with the patience and goodwill of the virtuous. The God of Order, known as OuHibari, was a strict god that herded the men to maintain order and was always pendent of the security and prosperity of the village, which with every passing year became more crowded and much wealthier._

_One day, OuSora and OuHibari had a lover's spat and both left their own ways abandoning the new village to its luck. Upon hearing this news, the envious neighboring villages ganged-up on the defenseless village. Hundreds were killed before OuSora and OuHibari realized the danger their village was going through. Their fury at seeing their people killed was so great OuSora and OuHibari armed themselves with a naginata and a katana and defeated all those who dared harm their people._

_After the battle, OuSora, guilty at having left her people vulnerable, decided to join them in their suffering and was determined to live as a human to better understand them. Unable to change his wife's mind and not willing to wait for her return, OuHibari decided to follow his wife's steps and reincarnate as human. Unlike his wife, he decided to be born in the Hibari family, who during the attack had created a small resistance and saved plenty of lives._

_As said was done. OuHibari and OuSora lived normal human lives with normal human concerns, unaware of their godhood until they were of appropriate age to marry and would once more take their places as the local deities to continue blessing Namimori as they always have. As tradition goes, OuHibari would always recover his memories first and instill order as he searched for his wife. However, justice without mercy is just as painful as a world of chaos and disorder and so the townspeople soon realized that it was necessary to aid the god in his search for his wife. After the first few times, it became known as the 'Search for OuSora' and it was said that whoever found the goddess first would be blessed by the two gods with wealth, prosperity and happiness._

_The Search for OuSora_  written by Ichihara Sunako (1972), historian and Namimori citizen.

"… and whoever found them would be blessed by the two gods with wealth, prosperity and happiness." Reborn finished reading and closed the book "I see… Sound interesting! Well, then Dame-Tsuna, you're going to find that goddess and be blessed by the two gods. You never know when some extra luck may be needed, though I doubt even their blessing could stop you from being so dame!"

"EHHH? First mom, now you! Why can't we ever just stay home and let someone else deal with it?" Tsuna said sighing exasperatedly as he slumped over his work table. Yamamoto just smiled at his side "Come on, Tsuna! This could be really fun!"

Gokudera was burning with excitement that threatening to physically manifest itself as he shouted "Juudaime, I hate to agree with the baseball idiot but this is a once in a life time opportunity to insure your happiness in the future. I will definitely help you win, as Juudaime's right hand man!"

Tsuna really wanted to get out of this whole business but knew from experience he wouldn't be able to slither out of this at all. "Alright, alright" he conceded "we'll look for OuSora-hime."

Yamamoto chuckled a bit "That's the spirit, Tsuna!"

"Don't worry, Juudaime! You can leave this all to me. I'll find her in no time!"

"Good attitude!" Reborn commented.

Tsuna shook his head seriously "It's not that easy, Gokudera-kun."

Both Reborn and Gokudera turned to Tsuna, who looked unusually solemn, and became serious themselves. "What do you mean, Juudaime? How hard can it be finding one girl?"

Tsuna and Yamamoto shared a glance.

"Sorry, we forget you guys are foreigners. You see OuSora-hime is the gracious patron goddess of Namimori, she is known for her great love and equal of treatment to everyone. So, while it is true that we've always referred to her as a girl, it has happened occasionally that OuSora-hime possesses the body of a boy. What's more is that no one can be sure of what age OuSora is right now, though it probably has to be close to that of OuHibari-sama's vessel."

Yamamoto continued.

"That's right! All we know about Hime is that she's kind and compassionate, unafraid of Hibari, uses naginata to fight and her anger is rumored to be scarier than that of Hibari."

"THAT'S TOO VAGUE!" Gokudera screamed at the black haired baseball player.

"Exactly! Which is why it can take a long time to find OuSora-hime."

Gokudera began to shake and muffle a scream as he beamed upwards and declared "I DON'T CARE HOW IT TAKES I WILL FIND HER/HIM/IT AND MAKE SURE JUUDAIME IS BLESSED WITH ETERNAL HAPPINESS!"

"That's the spirit, Gokudera-kun!" Nana slammed open the door, Bianchi and I-pin behind her. "We all must insure Tsu-kun's happiness!"

"I don't know about happiness, but I know about love. OuSora and OuHibari's love for each other has surpassed time and toil! A love like that deserves to be protected."

"I-pin help too!"

For some reason, just helping two people in love pulled at Tsuna's heart strings. If things worked out with Kyoko-chan, he'd like to have people support his relationship as well.

Tsuna smiled.

"Thanks, you guys, let's do our best to help OuSora-hime!"

A unanimous cheer settled the matter.


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone was surprisingly unfazed to hear that the Disciplinary Committee and OuSora's priestesses had made an event out of finding OuSora in an attempt to make the process both as quick and organized as possible. The event itself was going to be carried out at OuSora's Temple, where various tests would be carried out.

They had separated the contestants into age groups and had all the pertinent documents to make sure there were no unexpected guests. It had taken three days for them to reach Tsuna's age group. People crowded around OuSora's Temple. There were already plenty of girls lined up in their best clothes, more often than not with their mothers besides them. According to the rumors that they had heard from their kouhai, it was a day-long competition and, at the end of it, Hibari would arrive and determine if his wife was amongst them.

Simple enough.

Only it couldn't possibly be, considering that Reborn was smiling that evil smile of his all the way there. Tsuna shook his head. It was never good to focus too much on what Reborn was going to do, best to simply be alert to anything that may happen.

Before they had left the house, Reborn had told him "Dame-Tsuna, this is a perfect opportunity to see how much you have progressed. If you go as far as the semi-finals, you'll have a week free of training, but if you lose before then, I'll ten-fold you're training."

Predictably, Tsuna entered hysterics.

"HIIIIIEE! Ten-fold? That's too much, Reborn!"

Reborn kicked Tsuna in the head to shut him up.

"Then make sure you win, Dame-Tsuna. If you don't take this seriously I'll tell Maman that you're trying to sabotage the Search for OuSora."

"WHAT! You can't do that! Mom would kill me in cold blood, not to mention Yamamoto, Hibari-san, and THE REST OF NAMIMORI!"

"Well then, you have no choice but to win, now don't you?"

Tsuna grit his teeth at the memory. Reborn had no idea how important this ceremony was for the town of Namimori, how important OuSora was to his mom, how important OuSora was to him. If OuSora didn't exist…

"Get in line!" he recognized the voice of Kusakabe-san almost immediately, breaking his line of thought. He tried to push away the cold feeling that had crept into his body and focused on the voice.

"Everyone please come over here in an orderly fashion!"

He ran over without a second thought.

"Kyoko-chan!" he exclaimed surprised that the school idol stood in a priestess's apprentice dress next to the massive Kusakabe-san. The red head turned to him in surprise but soon broke out in a wide smile that made her sparkle prettily.

Tsuna admired her for a mere second, before asking, "Kyoko-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Tsuna-kun, don't you see? I'm an OuSora-sama priestess. Haru-chan's one too. We were asked to help during the search. Oh hello there, Reborn-chan!"

"Ciaossu" the Arcobaleno greeted.

"Tsuna-san" two arms wrapped around Tsuna's neck as the excited Haru greeted him with a hug.

"Haru!" he exclaimed as she unwrapped herself.

Gokudera immediately reacted upon his boss' 'attack' "Stupid woman! Don't get so close to Juudaime!"

Yamamoto laughed at Gokudera's reaction "Maa, she was just excited to see Tsuna."

"Shut up, Baseball freak, no one's talking to you!"

Tsuna laughed uneasy at their exchange before turning to the two girls, "So you two have already seen Hibari-san then?"

"Yup" Haru said "We're so lucky that none of us priestesses are OuSora-sama. Hibari-san is so scary and mean!"

Tsuna seemed shocked at her sudden animosity for the prefect, "Haru! Hibari-san is a good person, he's just… rough." He looked at Kusakabe-san, who was standing nearby, keeping order amongst the lines of candidates that were getting in line to enter the Temple.

"That's right!" Haru exclaimed clapping her hands "You guys should get in line. Our sempais will get angry at us if they see us chatting!"

"Yes, please get in line. We don't want to be yelled at." Kyoko begged sweetly.

Tsuna immediately relented under the pleading of the two cute girls.

"Get your hands off of me before I blow you all up!" Gokudera screamed at the priestesses who pulled at his clothes.

"Stop being so stubborn! We're merely trying to help you put on the kimono." A priestess screamed back tugging insistently on his clothes both in efforts to have him stay in one place and to take off the item of clothing in question.

Yamamoto stood nearby dressed messily in a purple kimono that though it covered him completely didn't fit his manly body at all, and a pink bow in his hair, "Hahaha, Gokudera just let the girls put you in a kimono. You can't participate in games without putting on the kimono first."

"Shut up you! I don't need you to tell me what to do!" The moment of distraction was all the girls needed to catch him off guard in which they proceeded to haul him off to a changing booth.

Tsuna stood besides Yamamoto trying to ignore Gokudera's screams and the fact that the priestesses had basically ignored him even though he wasn't dressed in a kimono either. He didn't bother trying to catch their attention because he was pretty sure that the little masculinity he had would die after today.

"Okay, everybody, those who are ready please head towards the main building where the ceremony will begin!" another priestess called from the door of the room.

Said priestess gave the room a good meticulous look as she checked everyone in the room, finally her eyes fell on Tsuna, who quite obviously began to feel very scared.

"You!" she screamed "Why aren't you wearing a kimono?" she turned to the room and to the other priestesses "Why hasn't anyone helped this boy into a kimono? What are you waiting for? Move it!"

She turned to Yamamoto "And what are you doing standing around? If you're done then go to the main hall!"

He chuckled softly "Can't I wait for my friends?"

"You can wait in the main hall."

He turned to Tsuna apologetically "I'll wait for you there, okay, Tsuna?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll catch up to you soon."

Tsuna was pushed hurried by another priestess into a changing booth. "Put this on, if you need help. Ask."

He put on the inner layers and fumbled with the strings. He had no idea how to do it.

"Umm, miss, do you think you could help me?"

The priestess opened the curtain and grumbled a bit before helping him with the tying of knots and arranging the different layers. It wasn't so bad if only for the fact that many of the other boys had already left and he was coming to be one of the last ones there.

The priestess contemplated him for a second and nodded, "Okay, you're ready. Now hurry, I think it's almost begun."

He nodded and tried to run but the kimono was tight around his legs. He fell on his face after only a few steps.

"Ughh, stupid boys!" he heard the priestess who had dressed him mutter. She was much taller than him and apparently also stronger as she picked him up bridal style and took off for the main hall.

"Ah! You, you don't need to! I can walk!" he exclaimed.

"Shut up! I'm doing you and myself a favor, now go and participate!" she put him down and pushed him into the room which almost sent him tumbling to the floor again.

"Dame-Tsuna, to have to be carried here by a girl, you couldn't have gotten more dame if you tried."

Reborn kicked him in the head. One good look told Tsuna he was dressed as one of the priestesses. "Gokudera and Yamamoto are waiting for you, so go!"

Tsuna turned to look at the crowd and saw Yamamoto talking to this girl "Where? Ah! There he is, but where is Gokudera?"

He walked warily towards them still not used to how constrictive the kimono was. It was as he focused on the silver haired girl that something told him that she wasn't who she seemed to be. It was, as he grew near, that he realized what he had feared.

"You idiot! I am nothing like a girl and if you comment one more time on that, I'm going to shove dynamite so up your-"

"Tsuna's here."

The Italian turned to Tsuna as he approached, allowing the brunet to see that the girls had gone as far as putting make-up on the other boy as well as give him a new hair-do that held all his hair back elegantly.

"Juudaime!" he called in horror.

"Go-Gokudera?"

The boy began to tear up, "Juudaime, look at what those horrible women did to me!" the expectant look on his face made Tsuna blurt out.

"Well, you do make a very beautiful woman, Gokudera-kun."

"Juudaime! Please don't say that, it's enough that this" he motions Yamamoto who is startled out of observing the more feminine looking bomber "thing says the same thing, but please don't think less of me after this!"

Tsuna could help but feel that he was bullying a girl and immediately felt even worse, "I would never think that about you, Gokudera-kun"

"Thank you so much, Juudaime" he said tearfully.

"You're still very beautiful, Gokudera-chan!" Yamamoto said cheerfully as the silver headed mafiosi turned to him viciously ready to kill him.

"EVERYBODY, THANK YOU FOR COMING! WE'RE ABOUT TO BEGIN THE SEARCH FOR OUSORA. PLEASE GET IN PLACE SO WE MAY BEGIN THE FIRST ROUND."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Competition begins.

The Head Priestess had been a young child during the time that the last OuSora lived and recalled the first moment she set her eyes upon the beautiful figure of the two Gods. OuSora had aged nicely and smiled like a grandmother, her grey eyes almost alight with happiness and warmth. OuHibari was the image of regal with his pepper hair and strictness, she remember that they were like royalty.

Now that she was older, she awaited eagerly to meet the next OuSora, whom she had admired greatly in her last incarnation. Young OuHibari had turned out to be quite a brat but it was to be expected seeing as he was the only Hibari in his family with the age to be OuHibari. Since very young he had been taught about Namimori and his position as OuHibari's vessel, it was very fortunate the Hibari Family took to their own and taught the young OuHibari for she doubted anyone else would be more suitable.

The decision as to how to proceed in an ordinate fashion with the Search for OuSora had been decided democratically between the two temples. She really wasn't sure what was the point of actually making a competition out of the search seeing as there could only be one OuSora and Hibari Kyouya would equally have to look amongst the rest of the participates if his wife wasn't amongst the finalist anyway, but she did agree with the idea of separating the groups according to years and gender.

Having this day been the fourth day of competition, the age group was of those who were in the last year of middle school. In other words, 15 years old. Though she longed to have the front row in the ceremony and act as judge, her mission was more important. Every morning she was to greet the OuHibari brat, take him to the specially arranged overview box, where he could overlook the first round of the competition without the participants seeing him. If he left before the second round, then it would mean the OuSora was not amongst the crowd and she would leave as well to check other areas of Namimori, if she was lucky in hopes she would find someone who exuded the same aura of harmony and peace as her Goddess. To end the day, she would come to the OuHibari Temple and personally give-in a verbal report over the condition of the search so far.

A car parked near the west entrance of OuSora's Temple. The vice-president of the Disciplinary Committee opened the door for OuHibari and out came the handsome dark figure of Hibari Kyouya.

"OuHibari-sama" she greeted bowing in reverence. She might not like him but he was still her God.

He looked at her and nodded in greeting before moving past her and into the building.

This is going to be a long day. She sighed and followed after.

Tsuna stared at the naginata in his hands in despair. His opponent, a guy he didn't recognize, stood beside him as a priestess instructed both of them in the proper handling and movements of a naginata. They tried to practice their moves in their enclosed wrappings and with weapons they weren't even sure how to wield, but the kimonos were so incredibly restrictive they could quite copy the footwork for the diverse movements. It was weird to use a weapon, considering that the many fights he had participated over the last few years with Mukuro, Xanxus, Byakuran, Enma, the Arcobaleno, etc. (God, those were a lot of fights!) had been without any other weapon than his mitten, pills and box weapons, but all that fight experience had to be useful for something, right? He should get able to get away with fighting with it, right? Right?

Oh, who was he kidding! He was going to get his ass handed to him faster than Lambo eats his breakfast every morning. No, no, no! He couldn't think like that, if he failed then Reborn would tell his mom that he had sabotaged the Search for OuSora. He'd rather go through heaven and hell to get to the semi-finals rather than have the whole of Namimori against him.

Once the priestess decided they were as ready as they were going to get, she signaled for both of them to get in place. Tsuna held a white strip of cloth around his arm as the other boy had a red one.

"BEGIN!" she announced starting the duel.

Tsuna was determined to keep his head cool. If he rushed to defeat his opponent, he would lose. He would wait. He would let this other boy make the first move.

The other boy began speed walking towards Tsuna with the naginata high in the air ready to cut down at him, but Tsuna couldn't bring himself to feel afraid. It was frankly hilarious as the boy waddled towards him. Tsuna did something he remembered future Lal doing to him and brought the stick part of the naginata strongly against the other boy's legs. As predicted he fell and Tsuna laid the blade of his weapon against the boy's neck.

"White Team wins!"

Tsuna sighed in relief and reached down to the other boy, "Are you okay?"

The other boy slapped away his extended hand with a scoff "Other than humiliated by a girly-boy and wearing a kimono. I'm fine."

Tsuna shifted nervously before deciding that it would probably be a better idea to see how Yamamoto and Gokudera were doing. He turned to get away when a hand gripped the back of his kimono, once more he fell to the ground over the drastic change of direction.

"Where do you think you're going?" the priestess in charge of their fight interrogated him.

"Umm, I wanted to go see my friends" he murmured softly.

"You can do that later. Right now, you have to go to your next fight."

"But-" "No buts!" She picked him up and hauled him to the next place as he screamed in outrage "PUT ME DOWN! I CAN WALK!"

With a huff, he broke free from the startled female and began walking on his own. Catching up, she blurted "I'm sorry, okay? Listen, it's been tough these last few days, especially on the boy's side of the temple. They keep causing trouble and forcing us to call in the Disciplinary Committee, do you understand what it's like to allow men into a girl's only temple? We pride ourselves in serving and protecting OuSora-sama. It's degrading having to leave it to others! We don't want men in the Temple, much less having to depend on them to do our duties. So, if you promise that you won't go off on your own then I promise I won't push you around, alright?"

Tsuna nodded rapidly, overwhelmed by the girl's outburst.

She turned and began walking. Tsuna followed meekly behind, wondering where his friends were and, most importantly, where Reborn had run off to. As the priestess led him, he managed to see Yamamoto calmly walking next to a priestess who probably led him to his next fight, and passed right by Gokudera's fight, which was won by the silver haired boy using the blunt side of the naginata to whack his opponent until the poor soul begged for mercy.

Tsuna took a good look at the fights around him and noticed that most of the ones that won were because they had looser skirts, which gave him an idea. He lifted portions of the skirt and untied the strings on the lower portion and rejoiced in the newfound mobility. Satisfied he ran to catch up with the priestess that was still in sight talking to yet another priestess.

Looking from the roof columns, Reborn nodded in approval. Apparently Dame-Tsuna was learning something after all!

Tsuna for some reason could feel like an imaginary Reborn approved his cheat and began to wonder just how likely it was for Reborn to be doing so, before shaking himself mentally. That wouldn't happen! Reborn would probably smack him for cheating so obviously, but he'd rather not be beaten up by the other competitors, so Reborn would just have to come and stop him himself if he disagreed.

The two priestesses stood next to each other and handed each a different pair of bands. Tsuna still had white and his opponent red. They stood at distance with each other and got ready.

"The second fight begins. Competitors, FIGHT!"

Tsuna took deep breaths trying to calm his erratic heart. He had to keep his calm. The boy seemed to have a harder time hiding his nervousness and seemed almost about to trip over himself as he rush-waddled over to Tsuna. Tsuna moved to the side to avoid the incoming blade but seemed to miscalculate the distance and fell over.

Oh damn!

He quickly rolled over and swiped at the other boy's legs and, though the other boy resisted the impact, he was forced to kneel. Tsuna took advantage of the moment to get on his feet. He thanked the Gods he had loosened the kimono and quickly pulled the naginata that was supporting the other boy's weight. He fell to the floor face first and Tsuna stepped on his hand to stop him from continuing to use the naginata. He placed the blade on his neck.

"White wins!" announced the priestess.

Tsuna sighed. Thank you, Kami-sama! OuSora-hime!

He silently gave a prayer to OuSora and begged for his luck to continue the same. Really, he did need all the help he could get if he didn't want the rest of his fights to be close calls like this one.

Once again he approached the boy who was struggling to get up even with the help of the priestess who was in charge of him. At the words, "That runt is only lucky we're all wearing this crappy kimonos or I would have had his head!" he decided to simply back away slowly.

Better safe than sorry…

His priestess approached him, "You can wait now. The next opponent will be coming here."

"Umm, miss priestess, can I ask you a question?"

She looked at him weirdly, as if estranged by the question.

"My name is Reiko. But sure, go ahead."

Tsuna gulped and tried not to look at her directly in the eye, feeling rather self-conscious he began stuttering "Well, ahm, you see… well, I was wondering… I, well… umm, why exactly must we fight with naginatas?" he finally blurt out.

She just look amusing, if vaguely irritated, "Well, according to what they tell us, lowers, it's because OuSora-sama was so skilled with the naginata that it was like the weapon had been a part of her body and thus any incarnation of hers should be able to do the same."

"Even without training?"

"Of course!" she briefly puffed in pride at OuSora's ability "Though some of us have the suspicion that they're only using this round to tire out the troublemakers. Ah! Look, there comes your opponent."

Tsuna turned to the direction she was looking and saw a petit priestess with a sweet smile approaching with a tough-looking guy behind him. Tsuna tried to not get overly depressed over having to continue fighting.

I can't lose now! The whole of Namimori is going to kill me. My mom is going to kill me. Reborn is going to get me killed! OuSora… OuSora who did so much for us… I can't lose!

He grabbed his naginata and held his ground. He wasn't going to lose.

Tsuna sighed as he ended his third fight. It had been slightly harder than the last one. He actually exchanged blows with his opponent. He had won and once again was told to follow the priestess in charge of him. He tried to check on Yamamoto and Gokudera but they were almost completely out of sight. The priestesses had a tight leash on all the defeated individuals as they tried to rein them in as to continue the fights without further chaos. Tsuna was glad he couldn't see either of his friends being lead out of the temple.

Two fights later, Reiko-san, the priestess in charge of him, took him to another area of the room where he was to wait. Somehow, despite now being free of the weight of having to win at all costs, he wasn't quite sure himself; he had ended up in the semi-finals and was now going against both boys and girls, who no doubt were going to be even better opponents than those he had previously faced. What's worse is that he still had no idea of where Gokudera and Yamamoto were. He tugged at Reiko-san's sleeve.

"Yes?"

"Now that we're free, do you think I could go look for my friends?"

"Fine, but I'm going with you. I don't want you getting lost."

He felt like he was being treated like Lambo and mentally apologized to the strange child. He stayed close to Reiko-san, seeing as he didn't want her to hunt him down and proceed to carry him everywhere anymore. When he finally caught sight of Gokudera, he no longer needed to look for Yamamoto. His two guardians now stood before each other as opponents. His breath hitched and he didn't know what to do, which one should he cheer for? Yamamoto, Gokudera, or both? Should he even cheer?

He wanted to stop them seeing as they were both pumped up for a serious fight but he knew they were in no real danger and that the fight had to go on. Oh God, Gokudera was going to kill Yamamoto and Yamamoto probably just thought that Gokudera was being too enthusiastic! He felt powerless as he could only stare in growing dread as the priestess in charge of the fight announced, "Fourth fight begins. Competitors, FIGHT!"


	4. Chapter 4

The difference of fighting against an opponent you know and an opponent you've met for the first time was that you knew what to expect from the one you know. That doesn't mean however that it couldn't be a harder fight. Though the fight had already began the two boys stood still before the other keeping the distance that could easily define the outcome of the battle, both of them were intent on making this battle unforgettable. They began circling each other in a deadly dance, this was a fight not only of strength but of wills.

Yamamoto threw himself at the other first. Gokudera cursed and threw himself to meet the parry of the swordsman. They exchanged blows with enough strength that, had it been anyone else, they would have been thrown to the ground. Yamamoto had more physical strength due to the grueling hours he had spent training both for baseball and Kendo, but Gokudera was better at fast, constant blows to wear at his opponent's defenses.

The fight was coming to an impasse as neither would strike blows against the other, merely blocking them. They both knew that the first to break the pace would be the winner. Yamamoto threw himself with a sudden burst of strength towards the silver haired boy and swung his naginata against his own, Gokudera gasped in shock as his naginata was split in half. He recognized the futility of using either end of the weapon and simply discarded them.

"Yamamoto! Gokudera!" they both turned at the familiar voice.

Tsuna stood amongst the crowd with an expression of worry on his face as he looked hopelessly at the fight.

Gokudera could see the disappointment on his face. He was Juudaime's right hand man. He couldn't let the baseball-bastard take his place. He could let Juudaime think he couldn't do his job of protecting him against any opponent.

Decidedly, he brought out his bombs. He wasn't going to lose.

(Insert cute scene division)

"Ne, Haru-chan, did you see?" Kyoko whispered.

"Hahi! Yes, yes! Haru did! What should we do?"

"I'm not sure." she lowered her voice further, it wouldn't do for anyone else to know "Cheating is a great offense. If OuHibari-sama were to know, before we find OuSora-sama, then she might be... you know..."

Both girls frowned and seemed greatly worried.

_Cheating during the Search for OuSora is considered one of most damning offenses one could commit in Namimori, and for good reason too. It is said that at one point a woman tried impersonate OuSora and drugged OuHibari-sama so he would marry her. Though the marriage was carried out and completed, no one in Namimori, not even OuHibari, acknowledged the marriage. OuSora, highly offended by the woman's actions, cursed her with bad luck as long as her feet were on Namimori soil. Still, OuSora did not undo the marriage and merely stated that she would wait until the woman died to remarry her dear OuHibari. The people of Namimori were outraged at the woman's actions and from that day on treated her as pariah. It was only due to the great compassion of the Goddess that she wasn't outright burnt at the stake._

"Let's wait" Kyoko suggested, "If something happens, we'll tell the Head Priestess."

Haru still looked unconvinced but still nodded hesitantly.

(Insert cute scene division)

Yamamoto was shocked by the sudden change in weapons and jumped away from the assault of bombs. He grinned; it would have been a pity if the fight had ended so quickly. If there was anything he could count on Gokudera for was that he never gave-up without a good fight.

A well placed bomb caught the end of his naginata, breaking off the blade and most of the stick making the weapon useless.

_Well, if he can do it, so can I._

Yamamoto brought his baseball bat from under his kimono, with flick of his wrist it turned into a katana and the fight continued. Gokudera kept Yamamoto at bay with his bombs and Yamamoto slashed them to turn off the flame.

As the boy's had been intent on fighting, they had failed to notice the reprimands of elder priestesses who demanded to know why there was a crowd around one of the fighting areas, snapping the younger girls from ogling at the two handsome fighters and realizing that they would only get out of a harsh tongue-lashing by lying to their superiors about not being able to control the crowd or the fighters. So they did.

The bright glint of blades made the two boy's stop in place as they realized that they were being surrounded by priestesses determined to stop the fight. Their first instinct was to fight the women, but Yamamoto stood down. Gokudera, on the other hand, had been waiting for a chance to fight against the baseball bastard for such long time; he wasn't ready to stop just like that.

"STOP GETTING IN THE WAY, YOU STUPID WOMEN!" He screamed at them, lighting his dynamite.

"Gokudera, no!" Tsuna's voice carried through the noise.

Frustrated, the silver haired boy had no other choice than to turn off the wick. A blade cut through the air turning off all the dynamites in his hands. The priestess, that held the naginata that did it, was as skilled as she was deadly.

The superior of all the priestesses present stood tall and at attention, "Both of you boys are disqualified for the use of non-authorized weapons during the fight. Next time, I surprise you causing trouble you're going to be in serious trouble!"

Tsuna sighed and approached his friends, "Are you okay?"

Yamamoto laughed half-heartedly, "Mah, mah, we're fine."

Gokudera immediately began bowing deeply towards Tsuna, "I'm sorry, Juudaime! I promised I would help find that OuSora person but I ended up making you look bad instead. I am so sorry!"

Tsuna laughed nervously, "Aah… it's okay, Gokudera-kun! As long as it doesn't happen again, there shouldn't be a problem…"

"Tsunayoshi, Takeshi, who is your friend?"

They turned around.

(Insert cute scene division)

The Head Priestess sat next to Hibari Kyouya as he stared through the fights going on in the boy's section of the Temple, she tried to pay close attention to the expressions of the reincarnated God but from her position she couldn't really have a good look considering that the brat would get offend with her scrutiny if she was too obvious about it.

She felt the shift behind her as she was once again reminded of the boy that acted as Vice President of the Disciplinary Committee. She knew that it was only due to her old age that she had been granted a seat next to the vessel of their God, had she been in the peak of her youth then she had no doubt that she would have been left to stand, much like the boy behind her, until the end of the round (or ceremony, if their God found his wife amongst the contestants).

Hibari Kyouya looked through the silly actions of the contestants and, from what the older woman could tell, was bored from the inaction. He was only slightly amused over a fight gone out of control with explosions and katana swipes. She had been so shocked by the display; she had literally jumped from her chair and gave a good look at the contestants. She recognized Tsuyoshi's son, though she thought it very weird for him to be causing problems, but for the life of her, she couldn't recognize the other boy. Frowning, she decided an intervention would probably be best.

"OuHibari-sama, if you would excuse me for a moment." a brief nod by him gave the go and she calmly left the room.

Alone, he stood, walking towards one of the two window planes and leaned against it. He was silent as he contemplated the contestants below, "Found you."

The moment the Head Priestess left the room, she headed to where Tsuyoshi's son was. She called to her second in command "Sachiko, head to the arena and hold off the two who have been disqualified."

"Yes, Head Priestess"

As Sachiko hurried off, the Head Priestess tried to think of all the children she had met over the years. That silver haired hooligan didn't fit in with anyone she knew. How many children had painted their hair this year?

The crowd opened for her as she approached the tall boy she recognized as Yamamoto Takeshi. Talking with him she recognized Nana's boy, Sawada Tsunayoshi. He had friends now? That was good news. Nana always worried about her son's antisocial behavior but the boy could hardly be responsible considering how much he was bullied at school.

"Tsunayoshi, Takeshi, who is your friend?" she asked kindly.

Both boys turned to her and smiled upon the recognition.

"Head Priestess", "Granny Kaori" they addressed simultaneously.

Tsuna blushed as he realized what he had called the elder woman "Umm, I'm sorry. Hello, Head Priestess."

She laughed heartily, "That's quite alright, Tsunayoshi. Just remember to save it for social calls only. So, who is this young man?" she motioned Gokudera who seemed uneasy in her presence.

Tsuna was the one who decided to introduce her to his friend "His name is Gokudera Hayato. He's Italian and he's been in our class for the last two years."

Her old eyes narrowed a bit and her smile tightened, "I see. A foreigner... Tell me, Gokudera-kun, do you like it here in Namimori?"

The silver haired boy had a mean look on his face as if he thought she was judging him, "It's fine" he grumbled.

"I see, I see. Tell me, did you have any trouble with the priestesses stationed at the entrance when you came in?"

Everyone seemed confused at this. Gokudera tensed at the words as if he knew he wasn't going to like what came from the elder woman's mouth. "None at all, why?"

"Well, I'm not saying you can't participate but OuSora only reincarnates as a Namimori born child, so I wouldn't want you to lose your time thinking otherwise."

"Hmph, as if I would be interested! All I want is to find the he-she Goddess and get Juudaime blessed by the two of them!"

The elderly woman lifted a curious eyebrow at Tsuna and Yamamoto, "Juudaime?"

Tsuna scratched his cheek embarrassedly, while Yamamoto brightened "Yeah! Tsuna here is our boss."

Reborn jumped down from some place in the room onto Tsuna's shoulder, "What are you talking about?"

"Reborn!"

Yamamoto smiled greeting to the baby and explained, "We were just explaining to the Head Priestess that Tsuna's our boss."

Reborn smirked and casually commented to elder woman, "We're in the Mafia".

"It's a really great game!" Yamamoto added obliviously.

Gokudera's frown grew but he didn't comment. He dearly looked as if he wanted to smoke though.

The elder woman was a bit weary of the weird youngsters but resolved to ignore it. "Very well, I hope you boys take good care with this little game of yours and don't get into too much trouble. Gokudera-kun, if you feel that you're wasting your time here, you may go. The ceremony ends at nightfall so you can come to pick up your friends then."

"Tch, as if I would leave without Juudaime." He scoffed with an undertone of anger.

The elderly woman laughed softly and said goodbye, heading off to scold the priestess that had let in a foreigner. She had nothing against them, but it would be waste of time and resources to have to prepare lunch for people who aren't even supposed to be part of the ceremony.

By the time, she had returned to the observatory Hibari Kyouya was no longer there.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile on the girl's section of the OuSora Temple. Whilst the boy's section had it own level of danger, the real vicious maneuvers came from the girl's side of the Temple. Most girls in Namimori in one point or another wrote themselves up in the OuSora Temple's summer camp, where they spent their time learning lots of different abilities, like: cooking, sewing, naginata fighting, yoga, aerobics and many other interesting courses, so as one might expect, most girls were already well versed in the use of the naginata unlike their male counter parts.

It was eight years ago during the summer camp of that year, that Midoriko met Touru. Midoriko was the daughter of an old, influential, conservative family. Having many strong personalities in her family, she was usually cowed by their harsh attitudes and had grown to be a meek, selfless child. Touru, on the other hand, was a middle classed tomboy that had learnt to care for herself to compensate for her mostly absent parents. Though the two were very different, these differences had been what pulled these two girls together. A meek child who wished to be strong and dependable, and a tomboy who wished to be kind and graceful.

Midoriko had been very kind to Touru, who had come to be her best and only true friend. There was rarely a day in which the two weren't off enjoying the best of both worlds. It was when her dear, sweet friend had come to her with a worried expression that the conflict had begun. Her grandparents had decided who she would marry. Both girls were appalled by the decision but were willing to wait until they met the boy in question. It was in a family reunion, which Touru despite being a really great friend of the family still wouldn't be allowed to attend to, where the boy was finally introduced.

His character profile was nicely resumed as following: His name is Matsumoto Takeru. He belongs to a very conservative family. He isn't the most handsome man ever but he isn't unpleasant to look at. He holds himself well and is very respectful, but distant. He is a maid otaku.

The last point was truly the downside to an otherwise alright guy. Midoriko didn't particularly care about this fact and didn't understand what was so bad about being a maid otaku as long as he was a good person. Her family and her best friend didn't really approve though, based mostly on the common opinion most had on otakus of any type. It was a commonly accepted fact that otakus were perverted miscreants that wasted themselves away buying silly toys and merchandise. Of course no one said anything about it in front of the boy's family but they were all thinking it.

Though she knew that her family only saw him as means to gain more influence and to look good amongst society, Midoriko knew that her best friend looked out for her best interests regardless of her own. Imagine her surprise when her best friend agreed with her parents and said that he wasn't good enough for her. It wasn't any secret between the girls that Midoriko found Hibari Kyouya to be extremely handsome and an amazing fighter. Touru was of the thought that due to her disposition, ability and fearlessness of OuHibari-sama that she may very well be OuSora-sama, she begged the younger girl and her parents to wait until the Search of OuSora was done to go through with the engagement. She was determined to have her little friend not give up on love for the sake of duty, and she would do it, even if it meant cheating.

(Insert cute cut scene here)

Reiko stood expectantly as she waited for her charge to finish talking to his friends. The kid had been doing a good job so far, but if what she had heard was right, the girls were vicious and only the best had entered this next round. Hell if she knew how the kid had entered the semifinals, but he somehow did. He had to have some kind of skill, right? All she had managed to see was lucky strike after lucky strike. Perhaps the kid had OuSora's blessing, despite his obvious clumsiness. Either way, she didn't think that he would survive long in the semifinals.

She stared at the handsome boys that stood next to her plain, kid-like charge. How such sexy guys ended up befriend such a wimp was beyond her understanding but they seemed to get along, perhaps she could ask the kid for either one's number. They all made a rather weird picture as the old, diminute priestess talked to them from her position on her charge's shoulder. It was kinda nice to see them taking time to talk to the old lady.

But as much as she'd like otherwise, the semifinals were about to begin and the kid had to be there on time.

"Oi, kid, time to go. Say goodbye to your friends, the semifinals are about to begin."

He quickly turned to the group, exchanged a few words and joined her to leave. For a minute as he turned to her, she could swear his eyes held an orange hue and for that one minute she felt something like respect toward a the younger boy. Just as it had came, it left as quickly, leaving her to wonder what had happened.

 _Stress_ , she told herself and guided him to the mainroom where the event was taking place.  _It had to be..._

There were thirty-two teens in the room, sixteen of each gender, of all of them only four would pass to the finals and the top three would be the first to meet OuHibari-sama upon his arrival. She couldn't help but swear under her breath when the kid's opponent happened to be one of the best fighters of the girl's side. Her name was Midoriko Sumeragi, a personal favorite amongst the lowers for most greatly suspected her to be OuSora-sama. Seeing the two of them stand facing each other, Reiko couldn't help but imagine she was setting a puppy against a bunny.

Only for the puppy to discover the bunny has fangs.

(Insert cute cut scene here)

Tsuna sighed as he stood next to Reiko, she basically ignored him in favor of her own thoughts and he didn't blame her. He really had nothing to say about the situation and seriously doubted he could calm his nerves well enough to manage a proper sentence anyway. He knew from the start he was going to lose. It wasn't right to hit girls.

He admired her as she stood next to the priestess who was in charge of her. She had wide hazel eyes that sparkled with an innocence that reminded him much of Kyoko's own and at the same time held the shy demure look Chrome often had. She was small even by girl standards but not overly so. The chubbiness of her face made her look childish and cute, and yet she held herself with all the care and indication that she was more mature than she looked. She was gorgeous in a cute way and he could feel in his own bones the peace that radiated off her. He wouldn't doubt it if anyone told him she was the Goddess.

His eyes met with hers and though he hastily moved his eyes away in embarrassment. Her eyes stayed, she giggled sweetly and began to head towards him. His cheeks began to flush, his palms to sweat and his tongue to twist. He still wasn't used to talking to girls yet.

"Hello!" she greeted softly.

"Umm, hi" was his retarded response.

"Let's have a friendly fight! I mean, if it's alright with you?"

"Ye-Yeah! I'd like that, let's have a good match. Uhmm, please be kind to me!"

She giggled softly at his awkwardness and softly muttered her departure back to her side of the field. He could already see his defeat. How could he fight against someone as cute as her? Perhaps he could just withdraw from the competition...

"Chickening out, Dame-Tsuna?" a familiar voice asked thoroughly amused.

Reborn kicked Tsuna's head as he appeared suddenly from somewhere behind him.

"REBORN! You didn't have to kick me."

"Heh. Then don't stand there looking like a moron. You may have miraculously entered the semifinals but that doesn't mean you're safe from me yet, Dame-Tsuna."

"Wha-what do you mean?" his voice began to crack in fear.

"If you don't enter the finals, I'll tell Hibari you know where that OuSora person is."

Tsuna blanched at the thought of the fuming God. Perhaps he could present the cute little girl to him and hope to Kami-sama that she turned out being OuSora-hime. He hoped it was her because if he failed and it turned out not to be her then he was royally screwed.

"Y-You c-can't do that! R-Reborn, do-don't be unreasonable."

Reborn chuckled.

Reiko gave him a soft shove, cutting off their talk, so he would head to the field to assume his position. He could see the other girl doing the same and braced himself.

"Sixth Fight, Semifinals match. Contestants, assume position." they extended the last words to give it emotion. Tsuna didn't think it was necessary since he was anxious and nervous enough even without the energetic strategy.

"Ready, set, FIGHT!"

Before Tsuna could really assess the situation, the meek little girl was rushing at him with amazing speed, his limbs blocked by instinct alone. The gleam in the girl's eye told him she was serious about the fight and he wasn't really willing to let her harm him.

_OuSora-hime, whatever I did in my past life, please forgive me and, if you are who I think you are, please don't kill me! I don't want to die yet!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Second Challenge.

Tsuna stepped back from the naginata wielding fiend that the meek little girl he had met earlier turned into, only to be pushed further back by the thrust of her blade. Tsuna's sloppy grip on his naginata was even further messed up by his profound sweating. He tried to push back, but he was no rival for the younger girl. It was only due to the many fights he had fought and won that he managed to block when she swung at him.

He was running out of options on what to do. He gave a swift push and began backing up before she could regain her balance. He back pedaled and ran, he knew he was a coward and he had no intention of saying otherwise.

"Can't we talk this over? Let's not fight. Please stop attacking me!" he cried out as she swung her naginata at him violently.

"Stop running and fight me!"

He had the feeling that no matter what he said she wouldn't give up until the end. So he began screaming out his defeat.

"I forfeit! I resign! I don't want to fight anymore! Stop trying to kill me!"

She kept swinging at him and no one stopped her. In fact, it seemed that he was being ignored completely.

Somewhere in the crowd, Reborn smirked.

"That boy! Always forfeiting, and then attacking his opponents. Ignore him!" A Reborn in an old priestess disguise, complete with wig and all, said. The crowd of priestesses around him frowned disapprovingly at the boy in question and ignored his pleas.

Tsuna screamed as one of her attacks split his naginata in two making it something he wasn't sure he could manage, so he threw it to the ground and kept running.

"HIEEE! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT!"

He tripped on his loosening kimono and wasn't capable of standing up in time to avoid the blade that his opponent pressed against his neck.

"Red Team wins!"

Immediately, as if a spell had been taken off the girl, she smiled sweetly and held out her hand to Tsuna.

"That was a good fight! Next time though, don't give up so quickly, okay?"

Tsuna accepted her hand, and though, she was now as cute as a button, he wasn't going to forget this episode anytime soon. He nodded at her words and tried to walk away as quickly as possible.

That girl was perfect for Hibari-san! She most definitely wasn't OuSora-sama but they definitely would get along fantastically.

Reiko caught him as he dashed by her and gave him a stern look.

"That was horrible. I know she's a girl but you could have at least held your ground like a man. Better get your act together by the next round."

He nodded and tried to smile but it was too hard. All he wanted to do was run back to Gokudera and Yamamoto and forget everything that just happened.

Not to mention he now had to face Reborn...

Some days he thought OuSora seriously just didn't like him.

"… _ **Sora…"**_

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto called.

The deep baritone voice was swept away by the sudden cheerful greeting. A faint reminisce was left, but Tsuna could barely grasp it long enough to understand what had happened. Yamamoto and Gokudera, who trailed behind him, grew closer and by that time the sound was the only an indistinct echo in his brittle memory.

(Insert cute cut scene here)

"According to my sources, next round is caring for the elderly at Namimori's Retirement Home, at least, for you guys. The girls are headed to Namimori's Day Care. The goal is to take care of the senior citizen assigned to you. Your scores will be given by the nurses."

"Haha, that sounds fairly simple, don't ya think Tsuna?"

Tsuna chuckled nervously and nodded.

"Idiot, it could never be that simple! What's the catch, Reborn-san?" Gokudera screeched before placing all his attention on the Arcobaleno.

Reborn chuckled ominously, "It seems that there are retired yakuza lords, ex-nurses from the last world war, retired police men and other interest parsonages amongst the residents."

"HIIIEEE! But, why?" Tsuna screeched in disbelief as his face began to pale.

Reborn gave him a look of exasperation, "Everyone gets old, Dame-Tsuna, even dangerous men are allowed to seek a peaceful place to live out the rest of their lives."

Yamamoto chuckled forcibly, "Well, it can't be that bad, right?"

Tsuna groaned softly and sunk into his chair.

A bump in the road shook the bus they were in; lulling the passengers into a resigned peace as the anticipation grew in their hearts.

_At least, we're no longer using kimonos._

(Insert cute cut scene here)

The Head Nurse stared down at the boys before her. The tension in the air was so thick, even the most mischievous boys reconsidered trying anything around the formidable woman.

"Y'er late." The gruff crone growled.

The priestess in charge of the group of boys stood at full attention, a stressed smile stuck in place as she shook nervously before the Head Nurse.

"S-sorry, ma'am! The first round merely took longer than expected."

It hadn't truly been this poor priestess' responsibility to deal with explaining their lateness, but due to picking the wrong straw in a game of chance, it had fallen to her to face the frightening ghoul before her.

"Take 'em to the names on the list and keep 'em outta my hair, gotsit?" She shoved some papers into the priestess hands and left down the hall.

The older woman had the fading signs of once having been very beautiful, but time hadn't been kind to her and now her wrinkles were prominent and her personality frightening. Though she probably wasn't far from joining her charges, she wasn't cutting her successors any slack often giving out orders, scolding the younger nurses and signing some form or another.

The priestess gave a long shuddering sigh and turned to the group a little blue in the face, "Okay, that wasn't so bad. Let's take you to your charges."

Tsuna stared at the rooms as he passed them wondering just who he would be caring for. Yamamoto teased Gokudera for his lack of femininity, keeping both of them deeply busy with each other and giving Tsuna enough time to brood.

He, along with everyone else, was barely listening to the priestess as she explained how the priestesses and the nurses would be checking on them to assess how they cared for their charges. He listened only half-heartedly as he contemplated how the Search for OuSora was progressing.

"... and Sawada Tsunayoshi are part of group F, who will be supervised by the Head Nurse Sakamoto."

Tsuna's eyes widened as the image of the scary woman from earlier flashed before his mind. The very thought of it sent shivers up his spine.

_Why me?_

"Juudaime, even though we are in different areas of this hell hole, if you ever need help with anything you can be sure to count on me!"

"You can count on me too, Tsuna!" Yamamoto slung his arm around Tsuna's shoulders and chuckled at Tsuna's confused and startled expression.

"Eh, ah." he nodded stupidly, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Teme! Get your hands off of Juudaime."

Yamamoto just laughed.

"Yamamoto Takeshi." The priestess called in front of a door they had stopped at.

"That's my cue. See ya, Tsuna, Gokudera!" He jogged off towards the room and the priestess who would be assessing his progress.

"Tch, that moron" Gokudera growled as they continued down the hallways "how can he possibly like the idea of taking care of wrinkly old farts?"

"Gokudera! Don't say that, it's not their fault that they're old. Besides it must be pretty lonely to be so far away from their families."

Gokudera huffed and turned away. He disagreed, but wasn't about to do so verbally.

"Gokudera Hayato."

Gokudera turned to Tsuna and nodded before towards the door and the priestess.

"Gokudera Hayato." She repeated.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya."

Tsuna wondered what kind of people Yamamoto and Gokudera would get. They would probably get nice old people that would go on for hours about their grandchildren. Whilst, knowing his luck, he'd probably get the deafest, crankiest, meanest person in the retirement home.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

He turned to look at the priestess who stood at the door. Taking a gulp, he went up to her. She turned and led him into the room. An old man sat in a chair near the window, the priestess motioned for him to stay at the door and she approached the man alone.

Tsuna took some time to look at his charge. His hair was almost entirely white and there were already a few balding spots, but he still sat straight and held a stance that inspired respect. The years had been kind on him and he still seemed mostly fit and well. The glasses he had were thick but gave him an intellectual look that gave off a really powerful presence.

Tsuna felt nervous and, at the same time, in awe at the man.

The man turned to Tsuna and their eyes met, the man stiffly stood from his chair and, along with the priestess, made their way towards Tsuna. He could feel his hands sweating and his heart beating loudly, the sharp eyes of the man before him pinned him in place and seemed to be assessing him as one would a criminal. The gaze seemed to judge him and find him lacking.

Tsuna really wanted to just turn his eyes away from the man in shame.

"Sawada-kun, this is Shimada Eiji. Shimada-san, this is Sawada Tsunayoshi. He'll be taking care of you this evening."

"Nice to meet you!" Tsuna scrabbled about, trying to make a good impression but coming off as a bumbling idiot.

"Nice to meet you." The man said stiffly, not even bothering to bow to the boy before him.

Tsuna could already feel his impending failure lurking in the nearby future, but tried to remain positive.

_He seems nice. I mean, I'm not always destined to be surrounded by crazy lunatics. Right?_


End file.
